at Water's Edge Resort — Hotel in Airlie Beach

My family and I stayed at Waters Edge for 10 days. During that time, we experienced several issues, some of which in the end, we decided to just live with. The first night- the room smelled of cigarette smoke and located at the edge of the resort so bombarded with street noise making it intolerable for a decent nights’ rest (we have a 2-year-old who was kept awake from the street noise and due to medical issues had trouble breathing with the residual smoke). The next morning, we asked to be relocated and the manager kindly accepted our request. The following night the AC unit in our master bedroom beeped in 30 second to minute long intervals. No amount of turning it on and off or playing with the remote for two hours or researching the manual online made a difference. There were also about a hundred or so ants emitting from the unit, swarming over the ceiling into the closet and ending in the shower. We decided to spend the night in the second room with our son. Unfortunately, any parent can tell you that even despite your efforts to be silent, your child WILL wake and NEVER go back to sleep. Guess what happened. Due to the lack of sleep and irritability that following morning we decided to forgo our original planned tour outing. My husband went again downstairs and requested either the AC unit be fixed, or we could find another room. The manager was again, extremely accommodating and let us view several rooms prior to another change. We viewed three rooms and including the two we had previously stayed in, ALL five had ants. This is a tropical area, so bugs and insects are to be expected. The level at which the ants have taken residence is very concerning. The solution to this issue is the staff will spay with a standard bug spray from over the counter, ventilate the room and vacuum. This does not solve the problem as the ants are back after 6-8 hours of spraying and ventilating. We decided based on the room size to stick with our second room as the AC unit had been fixed. One of the staff members left a spay can in the closet so instead of calling them every 6 hours, both my husband and I sprayed and cleaned up every 6 hours. Not what I want to be doing on my vacation. On day three we were finally able to book a cruise to the Whitsunday Islands and try to begin our vacation. It was a lovely cruise and did help in setting the tone for the rest of our stay. A few more side notes to consider before booking your stay here:

1. The breakfast is simple: toast, cereal, yogurt and fruit. They offer specialized coffee i.e cappuccino but for the same or higher price than if you were to go to a coffee shop.
2. You are expected to pay for a cleaning service and towels.
3. The internet could not be trusted, and we were out of communication primarily for the remainder of our stay in QLD. Though I don’t generally mind being “unplugged” and some even prefer it; I would appreciate the option in case of issues or necessity. Now, if you only plan on staying a day or two or it’s just you and a friend this may just be amazing for you. It is surrounded by nightlife and does have a “singles” or 20 somethings vibe to it. The manager does also provide excellent recommendations for restaurants and shopping. This all to be said, both my husband and I are very disappointed in what we felt was false advertising. This is NOT a 3 or 4 star resort. Having to pay for amenities, bug infested rooms, minimal internet and minimal breakfast with high coffee prices was unexpected and very disappointing. When we checked out the manager was very gracious about our check and I believe did the best within his reach of the policies per this establishment. The policies and level of cleanliness of this hotel do not make this a 3 or 4 star resort. Had we known, we wouldn’t...

The location and view was amazing, The lovely lady Sofia that I had been checked in by was very helpful and unfortunately that’s where it stopped. It was my 50th birthday celebrations… I live here and organised the accommodation for everyone.

No trolley for luggage, was told to get a woolies trolley ? There was a stash of half ones so 4 trips later I’m in. Place was clean but very outdated. The furniture is so average, holes, dirty, cushions missing. Lounge I couldn’t sit in too long as it hurt your back, had to get pillows of bed for cushions for other chairs.

*3 x beds and 2 blankets in each room. When I asked the very unfriendly and Jeff he said basically it was unfortunate there are no more blankets, each room is individually owned and that it’s hot up here anyway… I went home and brought back extra blankets and towels as you had to hire beach towels to swim in the pool that you are already paying to swim in. $2000 for 4 nights, not enough blankets and have to hire towels ? Off to a great start…

BBQ area nice, great view, only 1 BBQ working, made cooking Brekky for 14 guests tricky.

*Spa on balcony - couldn’t use most of the weekend. If I was physic, I would have known there was a manual in a slim small draw in a hall stand that no one would find…. Like I did when I was doing a look around before leaving. No idea how to use it, kept turning its self off… again Jeff not very helpful until this morning said I could stay the day to sit in it as it was finally hot. But I had to go home so I could wash everyone’s towels and blankets 😤 before returning to work tomorrow.

**But to top it off…. My grandson was locked in the main bedroom for almost an hour at 6am… unfortunately Jeff was woken up after my son continually calling for 40 mins… he’s 2 years old and the best that Jeff had was can you tell your son not to lock the door again, that they would have to wait as he’d just woken up…. Are you kidding me Jeff ? You should not be on the front desk ever ! I feel you have past your expiry date in customer service… there was a pop lock on the bedrooms with no key ? It was almost an hour I believe that my grandson was locked in that room. Lack of care factor was horrible..

Leaving I saw all the house keepers putting vacuums and laundry bags and cleaning gear in their cars… I asked the young girl if they have to use their own cars ? She said yes…, as it’s too much equipment to carry…. I did house keeping at coral sea resort and I know how hard it is… get your sh!t together guys… bad reflection on our paradise… your part of a multi / million if not billion dollar chain are you not ?

Very...

SAFE TO SAY DISAPPOINTED, thought I had booked an amazing place for us to spend my dads 50th although instantly regretted it and only got worse to the point where we can’t wait to get home! Our room: First off was giving two keys that were broken. Had an early check in because ‘rooms were ready’ only to walk into a dirty room that smelt like chemicals. If it had just been cleaned there wouldn’t have been hair on the floor, on beds, in the shower etc. Floors seemed as if they hadn’t been vacuumed and mopped. As well as mirrors and outskirts not been wiped. The curtains are filthy with stains all over them. (With the price of the hotel compared to others I’m sure they can rack up money to fix) The room has a whole in the roof (missing plaster) and in my opinion needs to be fixed; before it gets worse and in the meantime someone shouldn’t be staying in there. Safe to say overpriced for the quality you get. Currently am scratching like crazy and have these bites all over me (again I have photos no exaggeration!) seemed as if bed bugs bite according to a doctor. Resort as is: As soon as we walked in, the reception smelt no word of a lie like a public toilet and that’s no exaggeration. Lingers along the resort. Staff: Managers/receptionists were okay, helped with taxis although were a little blaze about a Local 3 meter carpet python, which we as a family would have loved to be warned about prior to staying. Or simply have it removed. If you choose to stay here, be very careful. Resources: Pools are extremely dirty. Although have a great view and plenty of seating around it. Location: Resort is located just behind Main Street although up a steep hill the walk up is painful on a humid day! Overall: Wouldn’t stay here again although will definitely come back to Airlie and stay elsewhere. I cant stress enough how much I don’t recommend at all,...